


music to my eyes.

by junfhongs



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Confessions, Fluff, M/M, Musicians, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 06:51:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18751231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junfhongs/pseuds/junfhongs
Summary: Minhyun always found ways to take Jonghyun's breath away.





	music to my eyes.

Jonghyun cursed under his breath as he took a seat right by the side of the stage, close enough to get a good view of the performer but far enough from the speakers to not go deaf. He knew from experience that Minhyun sounded better completely acoustic, with his voice bouncing off the walls of Jonghyun’s apartment. Still, there was a different air around Minhyun when he was performing— even more regal, more beautiful, more out of reach for someone as lowly as Jonghyun.

Minhyun laughed when Jonghyun blurted that out once, seemingly out of nowhere in the middle of their thirteenth time hanging out with each other. “What does ‘not worthy’ even _mean?_ ” Minhyun said in between his chuckles, and Jonghyun tried his hardest to mentally blame the cold for the redness at the tip of his nose.

“I didn’t say that,” Jonghyun tried to mumble, but oh, he _did._ He totally did and Minhyun was narrowing his eyes at Jonghyun, but Jonghyun was not going to dignify his embarrassment with a response.

Jonghyun felt a cold bottle being pressed against his palm and he jolted back to reality. It was Jisung, smiling and taking the seat beside him. “Hey, thanks for coming,” he said, and Jonghyun could hear the exhaustion in his voice.

“It’s _your_ event; of course I’d go.” Jisung really stepped up as a leader in his organization this year, and even though he and Jonghyun weren’t really that close, Jonghyun saw less and less of him as the semester grew busier than ever. Jonghyun took a sip of his beer and focused his eyes on Minhyun again, finishing up the outro of his second to the last song. As he let the last chord ring out, Minhyun raised his head and stared straight at Jonghyun, grinning at him.

Jonghyun tugged at his collar. The pub wasn’t too packed, but Jonghyun was certainly feeling the heat now.

He adjusted his position on the stool; his leg was starting to feel a little numb. Hell, everything was starting to numb out of focus, everything except his eyes as they met Minhyun’s and smiled back at his soft gaze.

“This is… my last song,” said Minhyun, his speaking voice a welcome deepness after the light honey sweetness of his falsetto singing. “It’s an original, so I don’t expect anyone to sing along, but—” He chuckled. “Thanks for listening.”

Minhyun wasn’t expecting it, but Jonghyun could. He had a few lines in there, words that came straight from his heart, words that he could only give Minhyun by lying through his teeth and acting as if they were meant for anyone else but him. Jonghyun may not have the voice, but he had the heart for it, the soul that was needed to write something that could bleed straight into someone else’s heart.

Too bad the person who needed to hear this was too busy singing it.

Jonghyun felt a finger digging into his side. “Be careful; your drool’s spilling out,” someone whispered into his ear, a voice that Jonghyun both loved and hated every single time they met. Seongwu was a great guy, fun to be around, more down-to-earth than he tried to make himself seem, but Jonghyun rarely got a glimpse of that when their usual encounters involved the spout of a bottle being pressed against his lips. Seongwu was _that guy,_ but Jonghyun couldn’t outright say that he disliked him, at least not when Minhyun seemed to like him so much.

The hand against his arm was softer though, a bit more sympathetic. Seongwu knew. He’s probably seen it before; Jonghyun certainly wasn’t the first.

“It’s not.” Jonghyun brushed his hand away in a petty shrug. Seongwu wasn’t letting up. “Shut up, I’m trying to listen.” Seongwu grinned and nudged him with an elbow one last time before flitting his way to another table, creating another ruckus that distracted Jonghyun from Minhyun’s performance for another second. Jonghyun winced when he turned his head back to Minhyun and found him frowning at Jonghyun in the middle of an instrumental break. _Sorry,_ he mouthed.

Minhyun shrugged and tilted his head at him. _Thanks for being here,_ his eyes said— or at least Jonghyun liked to imagine that.

Each of Minhyun’s looks meant something to Jonghyun. There was the soft ‘o’ of his mouth when he was surprised, and that usually involved Jonghyun and his thousand little gestures to show Minhyun he was there for him. There was also Minhyun looking up at him with his chin resting on his folded arms, grinning and waiting for Jonghyun to slip up for a moment and show a little too much of his heart. Then there was the tilt of his head and the softness of his eyes as he watched Jonghyun talk or write or simply exist next to him. Jonghyun knew that meant _something,_ but he couldn’t quite put it into words. 

Minhyun had a look on his face at the end of his song: his eyes closed, the corners of his lips curling into a little smile, and his head and body tilted back as if he were trying to lie down on something, maybe just basking in the magic of the moment. Everything was silent, save for the sound of sizzling in the kitchen and the last sound waves of Minhyun’s guitar ringing out to completion. Then his moment was over, and the magic was gone.

But Jonghyun was here. He was here to greet Minhyun as he walked off the stage, straight into Jonghyun’s waiting arms. Jonghyun grimaced at the sweat dampening Minhyun’s hair, but he greeted Minhyun’s nervous stare with a bright smile. “So? How was I?” he asked.

“Good as always.” Jonghyun shrugged. “Try shaking it up next time.”

Minhyun’s brows furrowed. “Are you telling me to fuck it up?”

“It would be nice to see you as a little less than perfect for once.” Jonghyun kept his eyes trained at his bottle, avoiding Minhyun’s teasing grin and the way he attempted to slide a sweaty arm around Jonghyun’s waist. Jonghyun wanted to push him away, but his hand was already anchored on Minhyun’s shoulder, tracing the seam of his shirt and digging his fingers into Minhyun’s flesh to guide him closer.

Minhyun brushed his nose against the top of Jonghyun’s cheek before waving at someone else and leaving Jonghyun alone at his table, staring at his beer bottle with his flushed cheeks bright enough to be seen in the dark. Oh, Jonghyun _hated_ it when Minhyun was like this, hated it when he took their games a little too far. He hated how Minhyun looked back at him as he was surrounded by his other friends, with his tiny little smirk being overshadowed by the damned _fondness_ in his eyes.

_Damn you, Minhyun. You win this round._

Jonghyun checked his phone for the first time in over an hour. Nothing much, just a few messages from some group chats that he didn’t participate much in, an email for a class he didn’t care enough about. There were just enough hours in the day for Jonghyun to get by, and while he still had the academic part of his life under control, he wanted to get a head start on something else, something a little more— ambiguous. _Risky_. Worth risking himself for.

Minhyun was beside him again, still chuckling at something that Jaehwan said, probably. Jonghyun could have stayed with Minhyun’s other friends tonight, but he liked the solitude. He was always the shy type, the one who was afraid of moving forward and being forward, but he was slowly being coerced out of his shell by a sly fox going by the name of Hwang Minhyun.

“You want to get out of here?” Minhyun wasn’t being suggestive, Jonghyun knew, but he couldn’t help the hammering of his heart against his chest at those words. “Ong’s inviting me to this party in Daniel’s apartment. It might be fun.”

Jonghyun raised an eyebrow. “I doubt that.”

Minhyun laughed and brushed his fingers against Jonghyun’s wrist. “I wouldn’t mind,” he said, leaning in and capturing Jonghyun’s gaze with a flutter of his lashes, “but it’s really not our scene.”

They paused there and allowed time to pass in silence. A band was performing now, singing something like a girl group song that they tried to make into a rock cover. The dissonance made Minhyun chuckle, and that popped their bubble and sprung Jonghyun into action. “Let’s drive?” he asked, and he glanced back at Minhyun’s friends. They wouldn’t mind if they slipped away early, hopefully.

Minhyun grabbed his guitar and batted his eyelashes at Jonghyun. “Take me home?” Jonghyun rolled his eyes at Minhyun’s act but helped him with his bag nonetheless, a spring in both of their steps as they made their way out together. Jonghyun glanced back before leaving and caught Seongwu’s smile and nod. _He knew._

Look? _Officially,_ there was nothing to know. They were just Minhyun and Jonghyun, two friends who spent an excessive amount of time together despite their varied interests, different courses and colleges, and their very few mutual friends. They got breakfast together and walked one another to class and picked each other up for lunch and studied together and laughed together and watched bad movies together and sometimes made music together; if that indicated anything other than friendship, Jonghyun didn’t want to have to explain that.

Because there were some things that only the two of them could see. Sometimes there were those looks that Jonghyun talked about earlier, something he truly couldn’t put into words. Sometimes there were touches, like a palm pressed against Jonghyun’s lower back or shoulders brushing past each other even when they didn’t have to stand so close to each other or a hand cupping Minhyun’s face, cradling him when he needed the support.

One time… there could have been a kiss. But Jonghyun wouldn’t let his traitorous mind dwell on that now.

Jonghyun put on his seatbelt and waited for Minhyun to place his guitar in the backseat before putting his on. “Ready to go?” When he turned to his side, his eyes stumbled upon a dozing Minhyun, just tired enough to pass out in Jonghyun’s passenger seat after being seated for ten seconds. Typical.

The drive was silent from then on, and Jonghyun kind of liked it. Minhyun was a little loud, a little overbearing at times, and sometimes it made Jonghyun retreat further into himself, comfortable in the way Minhyun directed the energy around them. But there were moments when Jonghyun felt special, when he felt like Minhyun was directing all the energy to revolve around him, and Minhyun was just orbiting Jonghyun’s space with a fond smile and a soft, _“Go on. Keep talking.”_

Jonghyun gripped the wheel a little tighter as he drove, gritting his teeth at the giddiness that was trying to make its way out of his system. He shouldn’t still be feeling like this. This was nothing special, nothing new, nothing else other than Minhyun asking for a ride home. There was— there was literally _nothing_ here that Jonghyun hadn’t already done before, and it shouldn’t have mattered to him as much.

There was a snore to his right. Now _that_ was new. Jonghyun couldn’t help but chuckle to himself and glance at Minhyun’s sleeping face during a red light. _Yeah, just as perfect as ever._ Jonghyun clenched his fists on the steering wheel and kept driving.

He parked in front of Minhyun’s apartment building, turning the engine on and waiting for Minhyun to gain some semblance of consciousness. It gave enough time for Jonghyun to gaze, to observe, to _admire._ Minhyun’s done this to him before; they were even now.

Minhyun blinked his eyes open a few minutes later, letting wakefulness wash over him slowly. “Hi,” he whispered. “How long was I out?”

“The entire ride, and then some.” Jonghyun smiled and cupped Minhyun’s face out of habit. Minhyun closed his eyes and traced the edges of Jonghyun’s fingers before taking his hand and circling his fingers in his grasp. Jonghyun shook off his touch and attempted his hide his blush behind a cough. “Come on.”

Jonghyun took Minhyun’s guitar and walked the familiar trip up to the fourth floor with him, ducking the usual hanging beam and skipping the step on the second flight of stairs where the concrete was crumbling off because someone dropped a bowling ball or a crazy weight of some sorts on it. He ducked into Minhyun’s entryway and slipped off his shoes as if he were coming home; Minhyun didn’t even bat an eye as Jonghyun placed the guitar in its usual nook in Minhyun’s bedroom and crashed on his couch. Minhyun smiled, offered Jonghyun a cup of tea, and took a seat beside him, an inch too close, maybe, but Jonghyun didn’t mind.

“You still want to go out after this?” asked Minhyun, his breath blowing the steam away. Jonghyun made a non-committal sound, but the way their bodies sank into the couch said enough. Minhyun laughed when he leaned back and found it impossible for him to sit back up again. “I don’t think so.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Jonghyun said softly.

Minhyun played with the ends of Jonghyun’s hair, and he smiled when Jonghyun leaned into his touch. “Thanks for coming tonight.” Minhyun wore his gratitude like a badge in the form of bright red ears, embarrassment and appreciation and honesty all mixing into one. It made Jonghyun laugh, made him want to reach forward and cup Minhyun’s ears just to save him from himself.

He did it, as he always did. He was getting used to those little gestures of affection, the gestures that were a little too telling of how he actually felt. Then again, Minhyun had been overt about it from the very beginning, even if Jonghyun tried to deny it just to protect himself from the inevitable disappointment.

_But… what if?_

“It’s… you’re welcome.” He chickened out, _of course he did._ “It’s important to you. It matters to me too.” It’s telling. Jonghyun had been showing for so long, and now he’s telling. It’s up to Minhyun if he picked up the gauntlet.

 _And he did._ “You matter to me too.” He didn’t blink, didn’t act embarrassed, didn’t act as if he’s afraid of what he was trying to say. This was honesty, openness, _raw emotion,_ and it took Jonghyun’s breath away.

Jonghyun closed his eyes when Minhyun cupped his face, tracing the lines on his face and pulling him closer and closer. “What are we doing?” Jonghyun whispered, just as their breaths started to mix. He opened his eyes, vulnerability shining in the way he captured Minhyun’s gaze.

“I don’t know,” said Minhyun, glancing down at Jonghyun’s lips. “I don’t know what we’ve been waiting for.”

The first press was shy, careful, but _sure._ It’s soft and warm, and Jonghyun felt himself sinking into the couch as Minhyun leaned over him. _So_ this _is what that would have felt like._ Suddenly, there was energy surging through them both, making Jonghyun reach forward and claim Minhyun’s lips again, his hand tangling in his hair. It gave Jonghyun a semblance of control, and the eagerness in Minhyun’s eyes and shortness of his breath gave Jonghyun a rush of courage, a taste of power. _He_ did this Minhyun. _He_ had this power over him.

Minhyun shifted to lie on his back, letting Jonghyun crawl over him and laugh as they barely fit on Minhyun’s tiny couch. “We should move this elsewhere,” said Minhyun, reaching down to hold Jonghyun’s hand.

“I… don’t know if I’m up for that tonight.” Jonghyun turned bright red at his confession. He leaned down to kiss Minhyun again, soft and quick. He didn’t think he was capable of that, capable of escaping from Minhyun’s grasp without having to peel himself away from him. Minhyun pouted, but he shifted back to give Jonghyun space to sit down again.

Then there was silence, but not the bad kind. “What— what _were_ we waiting for?” asked Minhyun, honest and pure. “I always thought I was being _embarrassingly_ obvious.” His ears were bright red again.

“Are you kidding? You’re nice to everyone.” Jonghyun huffed and tried to pull away from Minhyun, but when he glanced up at Minhyun’s face, he was just greeted by endearment and a hand resting on the top of his head. “I didn’t think you’d even notice me.”

“Why wouldn’t I? God, Jonghyun, have you seen yourself?” Minhyun chuckled. He stared at Jonghyun with dark eyes, and his hands brushed down along Jonghyun’s arm. “I can’t keep myself away from you.”

Jonghyun sighed and hid his face behind his hands. “I’ve been so pathetic for _months_.”

Minhyun laughed, pulled Jonghyun’s hands away, and cradled his face with both hands. There was no running away now, not while Minhyun had Jonghyun wrapped around his finger. “We’re, uh… we’re pretty dumb, aren’t we?”

“Exceptionally stupid,” Jonghyun mumbled, but when he opened his eyes, he couldn’t help but smile at the warmth in Minhyun’s eyes. It was the same warmth that drew Jonghyun towards him, the same warmth that Jonghyun heard whenever Minhyun sang, and now it was the warmth that told him this was right, that told him this… _this_ was what was inevitable.

 _They_ were inevitable.

**Author's Note:**

> henlo im back
> 
> good GOD it has been ages ,,, no kidding i havent written since december and this was churned out in like ,, half a day lmao I REALLY MISS WRITING and i hope i can kind of get back to this
> 
> anyway this was just super fluffy (and not at all inspired by the tragedy of my actual love life ... Lmao) long live 2hyun and 2hyunists ladies and gents we are BACK IN BUSINESS
> 
> follow me on [twitter (@amenochieien)](https://twitter.com/amenochieien) or talk to me on [curiouscat (/amenochieien)](https://curiouscat.me/amenochieien)!!


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